DOE Selects Five Innovative Water Management
ProjectsFocus Is on Technologies and
Concepts for Coal-fired Electric Utility Boilers

Q:

What do zebra mussels and the water found
in underground coal mines have
in common?

A:

Both will be studied as part of research
funded by the Department of Energy
(DOE) to address the intimate link between electricity generation
and water.

As part of the first targeted solicitation under a new water-management
initiative, the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has selected
five projects that will address water issues faced by coal-fired power
plants. The projects will be funded on a cost-shared basis, with DOE contributing
a total of $3.5 million over two years. Part of DOE's Innovations
for Existing Plants program, the projects range from reducing water consumption
by using coal-mine water for power plant cooling, to controlling zebra
mussels, a species of mollusks not native to North America that can clog
water-intake pipes. All of the projects support the President's National
Energy Policy by helping the existing fleet of coal-based power systems
meet current and future environmental requirements.

Processes for producing electricity from fossil fuels are highly dependent
upon water. In the United States, about 25 gallons of water are needed
for each kilowatt-hour of electricity generated from coal. Indirectly,
U.S. consumers may use as much water turning on lights and running appliances
as they do taking showers and watering lawns. Protecting our freshwater
resources while providing the energy needed to power the Nation into the
21st century is critically important.

In July 2002, NETL and two other DOE laboratories–Los Alamos National
Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories–cosponsored a workshop
on the interdependency of water and electricity energy. Representatives
from government, industry, and academia provided input on water and energy
production issues. Based on their input, NETL issued the solicitation
to develop cost-effective approaches to better manage freshwater use and
minimize water-quality impacts at coal-fired power plants.

Three projects will investigate the use of non-traditional water sources
to reduce the amount of fresh surface- and groundwater needed for power
plant cooling and other process purposes:

West Virginia University Research Corporation will assess
the feasibility of using underground coal-mine water to condense the
steam generated in power plants. The amount of mine water available,
the quality of the water, and the types of water treatment needed will
be analyzed. The benefits of using mine water are two-fold: it may prevent
flooded mines from overflowing into rivers and streams, which can damage
ecosystems, and it may reduce the amount of fresh surface- and groundwater
used in cooling towers. DOE award: $179,615; project duration: 12 months.

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will evaluate the
feasibility of using water produced from the extraction of coalbed methane
to meet up to 25 percent of the cooling water needs at the San
Juan Generating Station in northwestern New Mexico. To initiate the
project, researchers will evaluate the quality, quantity, and location
of the produced water. They will also evaluate the existing produced-water
collection, transportation, and treatment systems for possible use in
delivering cooling water to the generating station. EPRI is joined in
this effort by team members Water and Waste Water Consultants, Public
Service of New Mexico, Ceramem, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
DOE award: $578,444; project duration: 24 months.

University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research
Center (UNDEERC), with the Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation
(SWPC), will seek to develop an economical and environmentally effective
desiccant-based process to substantially reduce water consumption at
coal-fired power plants by recovering a large amount of the water in
the flue gas. The researchers will also determine how the process can
be integrated into various power-generating systems to recover water,
improve efficiency, and reduce emissions of acid gases and carbon dioxide.
In addition to EERC and SWPC, this project will have an Industrial Advisory
Board consisting of representatives of Montana-Dakota Utilities Co.
and Basin Electric Power Cooperative. DOE award: $930,000; project duration:
24 months.

The fourth project will focus on advances in cooling water intake technology:

New York State Educational Department will evaluate the technical
and economic feasibility of using a non-toxic bacterium to control zebra
mussels. Zebra mussels are a chronic problem for power plants because
they can infest cooling water intake systems and cause power plants
to go offline, often during peak demand times. Rochester Gas & Electric
Corporation has offered one of its coal-fired power plants as a test
site for a pilot demonstration of this green technology. The proposed
research extends a currently funded DOE research project to the pilot-demonstration
level by evaluating the feasibility of control within the entire service-water
system of the plant. DOE award: $910,688; project duration: 36 months.

Scientists in the fifth project will conduct research directed at advanced
pollutant measurement and treatment technology:

Tennessee Valley Authority, in partnership with the Electric
Power Research Institute, will evaluate the use of an integrated passive
treatment system for removal of nitrogen, arsenic, selenium, and mercury
from the wastewater produced by coal-fired power plants. Current methods
used to remove air pollutants from power plant stack gases can create
potential water-quality problems. DOE award: $667,505; project duration:
36 months.